Harry motioned Draco into the compartment before him, and once the blond was inside, Harry closed and locked the door before closing the blinds. He felt Malfoy's wand poke him in the neck.
"You think you're so cool, eh Potter? You can just order me around and make me look like a fool in front of my friends? Give me one good reason I shouldn't put you in your place." The Slytherin prefect was hoping that this tactic worked and would give him a leg up in this conversation. With Potter wearing the Beaufoy ring, he couldn't afford show any weakness what-so-ever. He had to control this conversation from the start, or things could go downhill quickly.
Harry turned slowly to face his fellow fifth year. He wanted to laugh in Draco's face at the obvious posturing. This boy thought he could control this meeting, but he was severely mistaken, as he was about to find out. Faster than Malfoy could react, Harry brought his left hand up and placed it against Draco's wrist. He felt a tug on his magic as the tendons in Malfoy's wrist suddenly snapped.
The wand hit the floor as the blond fell to his knees screaming out in pain. His hand was hanging limply from his arm, drooping like a dead flower. "WHAT THE FUCK POTTER!? What the hell did you do to me!?" He had tears in his eyes and was biting his lip from the shear agony. The pain was pulsing up his arm and down into his fingers. All from a simple touch.
"What the hell did I do? I showed you who had the power here Draco. You actually believed that sticking your wand in my neck and threatening me would give you an advantage?" He laughed out loud for the first time that day. "I'll let you in on a little secret. You have no power over me. This ring on my hand," he held up the gold ring with an onyx raven on it, "is not just for show. This signifies my place as head of the Beaufoy family. You know what that means don't you?"
Draco just nodded. Of course he knew. Every Malfoy was raised knowing that they had come from the Beaufoy family. From a young age, they were taught that the Malfoys were better than the Beaufoy because they had been the branch to survive. At the same time though, there had always been tales of possible survivors and how bad it would be for them if the line was brought to power once more. It would be bad.
Harry picked up Malfoy's wand from the floor and said, "Now. Let's have a little chat shall we?" He sat down on one bench and motioned for the blond to take the other. Draco got up on to the seat and glared at the dark haired boy who had put him in so much pain.
"What matters the most to you Malfoy? Your family? Your pureblood way of life? Your extravagant lifestyle? Tell me, Draco, what is most important to you?" Harry was asking these questions to see which angle he would need to approach this from. Each response had a necessary counter response, and he had to be careful. Of course he had a preferred reaction, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.
Draco was looking at Harry, trying to figure out this game. 'What is he playing at? What does he want me to say? Damn it! This is so infuriating. When did he become so calm and collected? He used to be so emotional so I always had the upper hand. This sucks!' These were Draco's thoughts. Of course, with Harry's new training in the mind arts, he was able to pick up a couple of the ideas. They weren't clear to him, but he got the gist.
"I'm waiting Draco. I don't have all day." Harry was getting impatient, but this feeling was balanced with his amusement at the boy's predicament.
Draco sighed before saying. "Well, these are shitty choices. However, if I had to pick one, I would say my lifestyle. I would miss my family, but I could marry another pureblood if I have the money. My parents wouldn't miss me all that much; they're too busy with other things." Draco didn't need to say the Dark Lord for Harry to know what those other things were. Lately the young Slytherin had been feeling more and more detached from his family, as if he was now second class. "The Pureblood way of life is accessable through my money. So, if I had to choose one, it would be the money."
Harry couldn't believe his luck. Of all the options, this was the easiest to work with. He had been sure that Malfoy would be loyal to his family, but the boy had proved yet again that money was more important than people. It disgusted him.
"If you want me to fix your hand now, and if you want to have any money to your name when you leave Hogwarts, you'll do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" Harry gained a glint in his eyes that warned him that he didn't really have an option. He sighed and just nodded. He was screwed.
"Good. Now…"
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Harry entered the Great Hall, his stride confident and sure, drawing the eyes of most of the people already seated in there. There were people outside still, plus the first years that had to be sorted. He enjoyed the fact that everyone was watching him. One of the things he had learned over the summer during his studies had been that if all eyes are on you, someone else is going to be able to do something unseen.
He moved over toward the Gryffindor table and saw Ron and Hermione sitting about three quarters of the way down the table near the teachers. That was the area most of the prefects were, and they signified the start of the blank area for the new students. They looked at him and waved him over, seemingly having gotten over his cold shoulder earlier. However, he gave them another. Ignoring their wave, he walked to Neville who was sitting relatively alone near the main doors, and sat down with him.
This was missed by only the most oblivious students. Everyone else had been witness to an official shift in power. Without the support of the Boy-Who-Lived, chances were high that Granger and Weasley would not be given the leeway they had had before when it came to their attitude. Hermione with her holier-than-thou mind-set, and Weasley with his Inverse Pureblood stance when it came to people disagreeing with his viewpoints. For the more astute observer, they knew that those two would be reaping what they had sowed very soon.
Neville was surprised by the fact that Harry had chosen to sit next to him rather than Ron and Hermione, but not wanting to push his very little luck, accepted it with gratefulness and greeted Harry as he normally would. They spoke for a few minutes about their summer, before the Creevey brothers made their entrance. Colin took the seat next to Harry while Dennis sat across from his brother. Then, Lavender and Parvati, wanting to be close to the new hottest guy at Hogwarts moved over to sit across from him and Neville. By the time Ginny had come in with the people she had travelled with, the area around Harry was already packed and she disappointedly walked farther up the table to find a seat.
The Sorting had gone on as normal, with Gryffindor gaining the most new members with 10, and Slytherin gaining the least with 6. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both had gained 9 members. During dinner, Harry had caught snippets of the conversation between Lavender and Parvati, and had been amazed the sheer quantity of gossip that passed their lips. However, it gave him a wonderful idea.
After everyone had eaten, Dumbledore prepared to make his annual speech and had just started speaking when-
"Hem hem…" A large sweaty toad like woman stood and interrupted the Headmaster. Immediately, most of the student population disliked her. Not only did they like Professor Dumbledore, but it was also extremely rude. The Transfiguration teacher looked at her as if she had just said that magic didn't exist.
"This year," she said in a sickly sweet voice, "I have been chosen to take over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, appointed personally by the Minister. The standards here have been found sorely lacking. After all, three different teachers who attacked students, one of whom was an imposter, and the fourth teacher was a dangerous beast." This gained a chorus of boos from many of the students, and Harry narrowed his eyes, wishing he had laser vision to burn the woman alive.
After the noise settled down, she went on to talk about how there would be new changes in the school so that Hogwarts would be up to par with the Ministry designed curriculum. While many students and teachers looked alarmed, the Headmaster was perfectly calm as if he didn't expect for anything at all to change.
Then she got to the interesting part. Voldemort.
"As many of you may have heard, there are some radicals in the Wizarding world claiming the You-Know-Who has returned from the dead. These people are delusional. No one can come back from the dead. It's impossible." At this point, many of the eyes swiveled to Harry to see his reaction. After all, he was one of those 'delusional' people. He simply sat there in his seat with half lidded eyes and a lop-sided smirk. Dumbledore then spoke up for the first time since being interrupted. "Now, Dolores, you don't mean to tell me I'm 'delusional' do you?" Realizing her mistake, she started sputtering and trying to back track. Dumbledore continued, "I will of course admit that I have always been a bit eccentric, and perhaps with old age forgetful now and then, but I certainly do not count myself among those considered 'delusional'."
The usually genial man had become serious and everyone could hear it in his voice. He wasn't a happy camper.
Albus Dumbledore prided himself on his intelligence and mental prowess, and to be called 'delusional' by some over inflated gopher from the Ministry did not heighten his feelings of friendship toward this woman. "Perhaps it would be best, Madam Umbridge, if I could finish my speech and send the students off to bed. They look tired." Without waiting for a response from the blob of a woman, he continued on, speaking about the normal things, such as banned products and curfews. Miss Toady gave up and sat back down all the while glowering. Even Snape had a sneering smirk on his face that showed his disdain for the woman, and his satisfaction at her dismissal.
After the Headmaster was done speaking, he sent the children off to bed. It had been an exciting dinner, with the new dynamic in Gryffindor, Harry's new look, and now this new teacher. He could tell it would be an interesting year.
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Harry had just entered the common room and was talking to Neville about the different classes they were taking and what careers they might like to pursue. He had been half way across the room trying to get to the stairs when he heard a familiar voice yell out, "Hey, Harry! Why are you ignoring us? What's the big idea?" He and Neville had paused, and Neville had turned to see Ron stomping his way over to Harry, red faced with a deep scowl.
Harry continued walking after a second, but suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder that spun him around. He planted his foot, pivoted, and drove his fist right into Weasley's stomach. The boy dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, hunched over gripping his belly.
He looked up at Harry in anger and surprise with tears at the corner of his eyes. He didn't seem to be taking a breath, so Harry leaned over and gave him a hard slap on the back with prompted him to suck in a big breath of air, before puking all over the carpet. This elicited sounds of disgust from the large crowd watching the confrontation.
Harry looked down at the boy and said, "Touch me again, and you'll lose the offending body part." He raised his eyes to look at the rest of the people in the common room. "Any friend of his is an enemy of mine. The same applies to the know-it-all beaver." He pointed to Hermione. Before leaving up the stairs, he looked to Ron again and said, "I don't know who you think you are laying your hands on a Lord and soon to be member of the Wizengamot, but if you're not careful, you'll find your life very unpleasant." Looking back at the room one more time he said, "Have a good night everyone."
He headed up the stairs with Neville following him and took the bed farthest to the right. Neville took the bed next to his, and when Dean and Seamus came in they took the two across from the door, leaving only the bed on the far left for Weasley. Hedwig flew into the window by his bed to greet him after the long flight. He spent a few minutes with her, stroking her feathers, before sending her off to the owlery. He then got into bed and secured his trunk with security spells, before closing and putting security spells on the curtains also. He didn't want that red headed fool to get in any funny ideas.
-HPHPHPHPHPHP-
Harry Potter could say without a doubt that Dolores Umbridge was one of the most dislikable people he had ever met in his life. She was so far up the Minister's ass that she had become the shit that infected this society. The first problem he had had with her was her apparent dislike of magical creatures. She kept making snide remarks about how their education had been lax due to being taught by a filthy beast like Remus.
Then she had informed them that they would not be using wands in this class, but rather working solely on theory. The class had groaned at this but had quieted under the threat of detention. Hermione had been outraged and had argued that they needed practice to face the dangers in the real world, which was answered with a "What dangers?"
Hermione had responded that Voldemort was out there which had gotten her a nights worth of dentention. She had then looked to Harry for support.
Sighing he said, "As loathe as I am to agree with that goody-two shoes over there, I too must say that Voldemort is a severe threat. And Umbridge, be careful what verbage you use to describe me next time you disagree with something I have to say. The Potter House doesn't take insult lightly."
Toady McToaderton was fuming at that point and had ranted and raved for five minutes about disrespect and how those that disagreed with the Ministry would find themselves in deep trouble, after which she took 50 points and gave him two weeks of detention starting the next night. She didn't say it, but she wanted some alone time with the boy to teach him proper respect. He simply smiled and said he would be there.
After class, Ron was upset at Harry for losing them so many points already. "Way to go Potter, the year's just started and already we're in negative figures! So much for us winning the House cup this year." Neville, encouraged by his friend's new attitude responded.
"Shut up Ron! You just sat there like a giant numbskull. At least he spoke the truth. It's good to know that when you're faced with difficulties, you look to the bookworm for help." Hermione, enraged stepped forward to slap Neville talking like that about the two of them. Before she could hit him though, Lavender caught the girl's wrist.
"Keep your hands to yourself, bitch. It would be unfortunate if the school were to find out about some your stranger habits now wouldn't it?" The Gossip Queen's look was fierce and it told Hermione that the girl wasn't fooling around. Granger had blanched at the mention of some of her habits and immediately jerked her hand back and took off in the direction of the common room. Ron followed her wondering what kind of habits would provoke that reaction.
Neville was extremely grateful for the girls help, thanking her sincerely. They both blushed a bit. Harry thought he could see the makings of a relationship here, which was good. He would need Lav. to be loyal if his plan was to work. He would wait a little longer before bringing it up.
They left to go have lunch before heading to their next class. Harry hoped the rest of the day would be better than it had been, and since he had Transfiguration and Charms, he would be willing to bet big money on it.
-HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPPHP-
The Next Evening
McGonagall was grading papers after a long day of classes. She had just finished grading the first year papers, which she always took care of first, because they were the most time consuming. She had just opened the folder with all of the fourth year papers when there was a frantic knocking at her door. She got up saying, "I'm coming, just a moment." The frantic pace didn't stop, so she moved a little more quickly. When she reached the door she pulled it open quickly to reveal a very out of breath Harry Potter.
Harry was exhausted. He was leaning against the door frame and had been knocking furiously. When she opened the door he looked distressed and said, "Professor…. Something wrong…. Umbridge…"
"Calm down, Potter, calm down. Take a deep breath." He did as she told him. "Now, what's the matter, Harry?"
"I went to my detention at the scheduled time, and when I got there, I knocked, but the door popped open. I went in and I found her by her desk." Harry breathing had slowed so he could talk, but not by much.
"Found her? What do you mean you found her? What's wrong with her?" McGonagall was getting worried. Potter usually didn't look this worked up over things.
"She was on the floor, so I went over to her, but…" He paused, getting choked up. "Professor, I think she's dead!"
McGonagall was shocked now and told Harry to come inside the classroom while she got help. She took off in the direction of her fireplace to floo to Umbridge's room. As she floo'd away, he sank into a seat and had anyone been around to see it, they would have seen a strange glint in his eyes.